9 Different Ways to Control iTunes

One of the great things about iTunes is the range of third-party software developed to make playing and browsing songs easier. Whether a tiny widget sitting in your menu bar or a gorgeous display of high quality album art on your desktop – there’s an iTunes controller to match every taste.

A number of the applications mentioned are free, and we’re covering both desktop and mobile device software (not solely for iPhones, you’ll be pleased to know!). If you use iTunes on a regular basis I would definitely recommend giving a few of these tools a try. They simplify the process of skipping through tracks, and can make digital music even more enjoyable.

Desktop Controllers

You Control resides in the OS X Menu Bar and offers a quick way to move between and rate tracks. Clicking the menu displays all the current track information, along with several menus for selecting artists, playlists, or recently played music.

Along with having a great name, CoverSutra offers a decent range of features. It comes at a hefty price for a simple iTunes controller but has a stunning interface and integrates well with Last.fm. Worth checking out if you’re happy to spend a little money.

Bowtie is a fairly new application that allows you to control iTunes with shortcuts, submit your songs to Last.fm, and experiment with a huge range of (gorgeously designed) themes. Interestingly, all the theming is done via JavaScript, HTML and CSS.

Synergy offers a combination approach, displaying both menu bar navigation controls and a desktop display of album art. It would seem that development hasn’t been active for a while, and Synergy doesn’t offer a huge amount more than various free controllers.

ByteController is a the simplest of all the apps on show, giving you three buttons in your menu bar: previous song, next song and play/pause. Holding either of these buttons will fast forward or rewind. Very straight forward, but it may be perfect for your needs.

Mobile Controllers

Remote is a free application that turns iPod touch and iPhone into a remote control for iTunes and Apple TV. You can browse your entire music library, and use your mobile device as an incredibly advanced Wi-Fi remote control.

Salling Clicker lets you control popular applications from a mobile phone or handheld computer – not only iTunes, but a range of other software as well. It works with over 300 devices and operates via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth.

Conclusion

I hope that you have a new-found knowledge of desktop iTunes controllers, and have received a taste for what’s available on a mobile device. It’s easy to swap between applications in this niche so I would definitely recommend giving a few different controllers a try.

Please feel free to share any other mobile or desktop iTunes controllers that you’re a fan of. I’m sure there are a few stunning ones lurking around that we haven’t covered!

Yeah, Quicksilver! (one stop controlling of everything pretty much) I don’t see the point of any separate desktop controller apps for iTunes alone, if the app doesn’t do more than just iTunes… it’s just silly. How much more than a “hello world!” example program can such an app be otherwise?

My favorite iTunes controller though, is “Remote” for the iPhone/iPod Touch, I’m glad it was covered. It is truly useful. It’s truly an external iTunes app, and it’s awesome ;).

Andy

October 11th

Quicksilver + GimmeSomeTune = iTunes in control

Andy Couch

May 1st

I personally use Byte Controller. Two features that you didn’t mention are:

– Growl support to show song information
– Universal hotkeys to configure keyboard playback shortcuts

I recently found iSofa which is really cool and free! It can control a lot of other things too like video.http://www.justisofa.com/

helpsir

August 16th

ok what i want to do is be able to play itunes and my ipod at the same time….what i mean is i want to be able to be playing a song on itunes on my computer speakers and then play the same song at the same time on my ipod and hook that up to my stereo so i want both the ipod and the itunes to play simultaneously does anyone know if this is possible ive been looking at every app and cant find a thing